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Ahead of MTV’s first Music Video Awards, broadcast Sept. 14, 1984, the network was having difficulty booking top talent. Co-hosts Dan Aykroyd and Bette Midler were in their 30s, old for the MTV crowd, and ZZ Top had refused to play — until the network pulled the band’s videos and manager Bill Ham relented. MTV…

Despite the rise of tabloid journalism, Meldrum’s duty of care to so many stars who have inevitably become his friends hasn’t waned. Even the interviews that didn’t pan out as expected, as with a rising Madonna. “I was in the office in New York and I was given this huge lecture [for being late],” Meldrum…

..’One unwelcome reminder of JFK’s torrid affair with Marilyn — the affair that most troubled Jackie — arrived on her doorstep in the form of another blond bombshell by the name of Madonna. Already a pop icon, Madonna was best known at the time for her “Material Girl” video, an homage to Monroe’s “Diamonds Are…

For as long as Madonna has made music, she has endured relentless criticism for her sexuality. She’s been perhaps the most consistent target in the music industry, drawing critiques for more than three decades, and reviews of her work have served as a roadmap for how we scrutinize women at each stage in their music…